No, fall isn’t in the air yet, but the sound of school bells are about to be.

On Friday, rising sixth-graders and ninth-graders in Lancaster County will return to their respective schools for a half-day of orientation. About 11,400 county students will be up bright and early Monday to start a new school year.

That means a big change for parents who must be more regimented to get them out the door in the mornings and more structured in the evenings.

The city of Lancaster plans to roll out (literally) its voluntary recycling program in September.
While the city is starting off slow with its program, it is to be commended for initiating the effort to recycle plastic, bottles and jugs, metal and aluminum cans, as well as magazines and certain other papers.
Marty Cauthen, the city’s solid waste director, said several residents had requested the city introduce a recycling program. After discussion and planning, officials devised a system that is not too costly to the city and residents.

It’s interesting to note that in the July 31 edition of this paper, Sandy McGarry’s column, “President using fear mongering to address debt ceiling,” accuses President Barack Obama and other Democrats of using scare tactics on the public. I find this ironic since the Republicans had no qualms about using these same kind of tactics during the 2010 elections.
Hopefully, by the time this letter sees print, the debt ceiling will have been raised or extended and much of this letter may be rendered moot.

Reece Murphyrmurphy@thelancasternews.com
Lancaster County School District welcomed its teachers back to school Tuesday with its annual Celebration of Great Teaching event.
The event, held at the Lancaster High School auditorium, drew hundreds of teachers from the district’s 19 schools and gave the district a chance to honor those who make its mission of “Putting Our Children First” possible.
To kick off the celebration, Superintendent Dr. Gene Moore welcomed teachers back to work.

Jesef Williamsjwilliams@thelancasternews.com
Fewer buggies were available. Additional store clerks manned the check-out counters and a lot more shoppers than normal filled the shopping aisles.
This was the scene as Lancaster County residents, like others throughout the Carolinas, desccended on local stores to take advantage of last weekend’s tax-free holiday, which ran Friday through Sunday.

Christopher Sardellicsardelli@thelancasternews.com
It was Friday, about 7:30 p.m., when Greg Bowers got the call.
Dozens of cars were suddenly stalling moments after their drivers had filled up a little after 5 p.m. at Murphy’s Express, a gas station located along S.C. 9 Bypass. Some never made it past the pumps, while others had sputtered at different spots along the road.

Christopher Sardellicsardelli@thelancasternews.com
When Robbie Dunn first built his ranch on a stretch of land off Old Church Road more than a dozen years ago, it was supposed to be a sanctuary for his family and their five horses.
Nestled near Andrew Jackson State Park, the 10-acre site was meant to be a safe place for his parents to live and for their various horses to roam.
But Dunn said those dreams were shattered Saturday when he found one of their beloved horses shot to death in a field on his land.